BOURNEMOUTH Borough Council has been forced to apologise twice to the son of an elderly woman who died in their care.

He was also offered just £75 as compensation for the "time and trouble" it took to raise the complaint.

The 79-year-old woman, who was from Boscombe, suffered with diabetes and dementia and was visited daily by the carers from the council's Reablement Home Care team.

On the morning of January 15, 2013 she suffered a diabetic hypoglycaemic episode and was found unconscious by her carer.

The carer called the paramedics who agreed there was no need for her to be taken to hospital - but the carer failed to inform the family.

In the afternoon she had another hypo and as a result she fell, cut her head and broke her femur. She was found by a second carer later that day and they called an ambulance.

She was rushed to Poole Hospital but sadly died there 10 days later.

Following an investigation by the Local Government Ombudsman it was deemed Bournemouth Borough Council had failed in its risk assessment and care planning and had caused her family "uncertainty and distress" with its "inadequate" dealing of the complaint.

The council was told to provide the family with a meaningful apology in writing and was ordered to pay them £1,800.

Despite these clear instructions the council had to apologise a second time after the first letter of apology was considered "dumbed down" by the family and completely unsatisfactory.

“I’m just so angry by the way they have handled this entire situation and I’m glad that the Ombudsman has reported them to the CQC so their service can be thoroughly inspected," said the woman's son, who lives in Wimborne.

“I just feel so let down not just in their dealings with my mother's care but also how they dealt with my complaint afterwards."

In January 2014, a year after his mother's death, he received a letter from council chief executive Tony Williams "sincerely apologising for the delay in the complaint" and also offering a "one off payment of £75 for his time and trouble" in raising the complaint.

"It was just so insulting. It felt like they deemed my mother's life to be worth no more than £75," he said.

Unsatisfied by how the council had handled the situation he took the matter to the Local Government Ombudsman who upheld his complaint.

The report said he would "always have uncertainty whether faults in the council's care planning, and the action it took on the day, might have avoided this outcome"

“I feel that I could have saved my mum if I had been contacted by the carers that day and we could be telling a very different story," he added.

Jane Portman, executive director for adults and children at Bournemouth Borough Council, said: “Firstly we are sorry for the distress caused by the death of the complainant’s mother.

“Changes were made to our procedures in advance of the Ombudsman’s recommendations with further improvements carried out as a result of their report.

“We have taken the necessary action to address the issues raised and have informed the Ombudsman and the complainant of the steps taken.”